On the Impact of Early Warning Collision Avoidance Information through Prototype Head-Up Display for Older Drivers 2011-01-1033

Human cognitive and physiological performance tends to enfeeble during time. Evidently a distinct attenuation of reaction-times spatial and situational awareness appears in the older segments of the driving population which increases rapidly in the western civilisation. Additionally, greater dependence on private automotive transportation and the unremitting raise of the elderly population, contributes to a significant increase of collision occurrences. To this end we have designed a prototype Head-Up-Display (HUD) interface which offers crucial information to the driver, in a timely manner. The interface comprises symbolic representation of the lead vehicles and road information acting as a vision enhancement system. The evaluation of the system contrasted the proposed HUD interface to the existing Head-Down Displays (HDD) offering encouraging results, with significantly decrease collision occurrences tested different accident scenarios. Our future tentative plan of work encompasses a highly customisable interface symbols and calibration which will encounter visual impairments of each driver.